Fire bomb grapple



Sept. 15; 1942.

Filed May 25, 1942 I a z C. Malone IN VEN TOR.

Patented Sept. 15, 1942 Cornelius Maloney, Lewiston, Maine, assignor toR. I. Mitchell, Inc., Auburn, Maine Application May 25, 1942, Serial No.444,417

2 Claims.

The object of this invention is to provide a simple means whereby a firebomb may be scooped up, held, and cast or carried to a place where thereis no danger of conflagration, the operator being adequately protectedagainst the heat of the bomb, and the manipulation of the device beingsimple.

It is within the province of the disclosure to improve generally and toenhance the utility of devices of that type to which the presentinvention appertains.

With the above and other objects in view, which will appear as thedescription proceeds, the invention resides in the combination andarrangement of parts and in the details or construction hereinafterdescribed and claimed, it being understood that changes in the preciseembodiment of the invention herein disclosed, may be made within thescope of What is claimed, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 shows in side elevation, a fire bomb grapple constructed inaccordance with the in vention, and

Fig. 2 is a top plan thereof, parts being broken away in both figures.

In carrying out the invention, there is provided a handle I, which maybe of any desired length. The forward end surface of the handle I has anupward and backward slant.

The forward end surface of the handle I abuts against the rear surfaceof a sheet metal body 3, midway between the ends of the body, the bodybeing held in place by any suitable securing means 4. At its lower edge,the body 3 is provided with an obtusely disposed wing II. At placesspaced a little way from the upper edge of the body 3, it is providedwith openings 5.

On its upper edge, the body 3 is provided with a wing 6, the wing 6being located at an obtuse angle to the body 3, and being forwardlypresented. It will be noted that the wing 6 acts as a shield, tending todirect the heat of a grasped bomb I away from the body of the operator.In the interest of reinforcement, an angle bracket brace 8 of obtuselyangular form, connects the wing IS with the handle I.

The numeral 9 marks a scraper or jaw of rectangular cross section,including a rearwardly extended upper flange III, and a downwardlyextended flange II.

The forward ends of a yoke I2 are secured to the rearwardly extendedflange III of the scraper 9. The openings 5 of the body 3 are largeenough to receive the side arms of the yokes loosely, so that thescraper 9 can have free movement forwardly and backwardly, and an up anddown movement as well. The side arms of the yolk I2 are disposed abovethe handle I, symmetrically with respect thereto.

A flexible element I4 is secured at its rear end to the handle I, and atits forward end to the intermediate portion or cross piece of the yokeI2, the places of attachment being marked, respectively, by the numeralsI5 and I6.

In practical operation, the back end of the handle I is raised enough sothat the scraper 9 slides forward by gravity. The lower edge of theflange I I is placed on the ground, and the flange and the forward edgeof the wing I! are disposed on opposite sides of the bomb, I. The wingI1 and the body 3 prevent the heat of the bomb from reaching the feet orshins of the operator.

The scraper 9 is drawn backwardly, by means of the yoke I2 and theflexible element I4, and the bomb I is gripped between the flange or jawI I and the body 3.

The bomb I can be carried or thrown to a safe place. When the flexibleelement I4 is slacked away, the bomb I is released, and the jaw 9 movesforwardly to released position, by gravity.

The side arms of the yoke I2 have a slight downward bend, which tends tokeep the intermediate portion of the yoke out of contact with the handleI, when the jaw 9 is moved back- Wardly.

Since the jaw 9 is carried by the U-shaped yoke I2, the jaw will have noappreciable tendency to tilt lengthwise, but will move backwardly insubstantial parallelism with the wing I! at the lower edge of the body3.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A fire bomb grapple comprising a handle, a body elongatedtransversely of the handle and secured intermediate its ends to thehandle, a forwardly presented wing at the upper edge of the body, and aforwardly presented wing at the lower edge of the body, the lower wingand the body forming a shield which protects the feet and legs of anoperator against bomb heat, the upper wing having an upward and forwardslant, to direct bomb heat away from the upper part of the body of anoperator, a combined bomb scraper and movable jaw located in front ofthe body, and means movably mounted on the body and assembled with thescraper and jaw for moving the jaw toward the body.

2. A fire bomb grapple comprising a handle, a body elongatedtransversely of the handle and secured intermediate its ends to thehandle, a forwardly-presented wing at the upper edge of the body, and aforwardly presented wing at the lower edge of the body, the wings beingsubstantially coextensive in length with the body, and being disposed,each, at an obtuse angle to the body, the body and its wings defining abombreceiving trough, a U-shaped yoke including side 7 arms and anintermediate portion, the interme- .7

diate portion being disposed behind the'body, the arms passing throughthe body iorlongi-i tudinal movement and for vertical tilting movement,a combined bomb scraper and bomb-holding jaw located in front of thebody and comprising a depending flange and a rearwardly-extended flangeat the upper edge of the depending flange, the side arms of the yokebeing connected to the rearwardly-extended flange, and means assembledwith the intermediate portion of the yoke, and extended to a remoteplace on the handle, for retracting the yoke, to cause scraper and jawto deposit a bomb in the trough and then hold it there, subject to thewill of an operator.

CORNELIUS MALON'EY.

